Barrette.



J. MAOHATE. BARBETTE. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 21, 1911.

1,032,353. Patented July 9, 1912.

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JOHN MAUI-LATE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO RICE 8c HOCl-ISTER, A CORPORA- TION OF NEW YORK.

BARRET'IE.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JOHN Maona'rn, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Barrettes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to barrettes, moreespecially to those made of composition.

It is well known that the fastening features of barrettes have been unsatisfactory. This is largely due to the necessarily con siderable length of the pin and the character of the material, which combines flexibility with brittleness. The usual form of catch is a simple hook, the bill of which must be long in order to retain the long flexible tongue. Such a catch is unreliable, and in this form and in other styles of catch that have been devised, the considerable range of flexing of the tongue or pin in the plane of its pivot, necessary to engage it with or disengage it from the catch, places injurious strain on the pivot parts, producing wear that renders the tongue very loose and often causing the tongue or the pivot lugs to break.

It is the object of the present invention to produce a barrette havingacatch which both holds the pin with a high degree of security and minimizes strain upon the pin or its )lVOt arts in en a in and disen a in c b a b 2: an

and which, moreover, possesses great s1n1- plicity.

To this end the invention consists in the device hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a rear view of the barrette; Fig. 2 is an end view thereof; and Fig. 3 is a View of the catch on an enlarged scale, showing the pin in position to be snapped out of the catch.

In these views, the numeral 10 indicates the back, which may be of any suitable form, and 11 the tongue or pin, which is pivoted to the back in any suitable manner, as by a pivot pin 12 passing through the pin and lugs 13 secured to the back.

The catch as a whole is designated as 14:. It is shown as formed of one piece and is secured to the back in any suitable manner. The catch piece comprises a base part 15, which may be cemented to the back, a hook part 16, and a stop part 17. The hook part Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 21, 1911.

Patented July 9, 1912.

Serial No. 645,204.

16 extends from one end of the base part and overhangs a portion thereof. As more clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing, the inside lower corner of the hook part 16 cutaway to afford an angular passage to receive the free end of the pin 11. The stop part 17 projects from the other end of the base part. The stop part 17 is in advance of the hook part, that is to say, it is disposed somewhat lower down on the back than the hook part, as the barrette is usually worn, as shown more particularly in Figs. 2 and 3. The stop part constitutes a fixed and approximately rigid barrier which limits the downward movement of the pin 11 and prevents it from passing out of the hook in this direction. The stop part is so positioned that it will be contacted by the pin while the latter is still in engagement with the hook, as shown in Fig. 3.

Preferably, the stop part is so spaced from the end of the hook part as to afford an entrance and exit passage for the pin, which is narrower than the pin in a horizontal direction, so that the latter is compelled to snap into and out of engagement with the catch by movements tangential therewith. The stop part 17 is of less height than the hook part, measuring outward from the base part 16, and it is preferably undercut or inclined at its inner side, as indicated at 18. It will be seen that the passage afforded by the stop part and the hook part is diagonally-arranged, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2. This, it is found, gives the greatest security in retaining the pin, and causes little strain to be put on the pivot parts thereof in snapping into and out of the catch. By virtue of the presence of the stop part, the hook part is made considerably shorter than is usual, thus necessitating but little flexing of the pin 11 parallel to the back in order to engage or disengage it. In effect, it will be seen that my catch piece constitutes a keeper for the pin having a slotted recess for the reception of the pin and a diagonally-arranged entrance and exit opening adj acent one end through which the pin snaps.

In operation, the pin is disengaged from the catch by a slight downward movement against the stop part, and a diagonal snap.- ping movement out of the passage. Thus, there is little movement to place a strain on the pivot. Most of the movement of the pin in opening or closing the barrette is a mere swinging movement in a plane normal to the pivot. The stop part positively prevents the pin from moving or dropping downward out of the hook, and limits the extent of downward movement, which is usually considerable in barrettes and places such a severe strain on the pivot. When the pin contacts with the stop part, as shown in Fig. 3, it is still in contact with the hook part, so that the pin is not disengaged from the catch by force acting directly away from the back. The undercut or inclined inner side of the stop part is important, in that it causes any force acting downward on the pin to crowd the pin toward the back and away from the exit opening. The exit opening need not be narrower than the smaller diameters of the pin. Preferably, the pin is somewhat square H1 cross-section and is presented somewhat diagonally to the opening, so that it snaps in and out with a slight twist.

that is claimed as new is:

A barrette comprising a back, a pin pivoted at one end thereon, and a keeper for the free end thereof comprising a depending hook having the inside corner of its end cut away to aflord an angular passage for the end of the pin, and a fixed stop below the end of said depending hook and extending upwardly toward the same at an angle to the body of the barrette, to provide an opening between the end of said fixed stop and the end of the depending hook the area of which opening is restricted in a horizontal line, whereby the free end of said pin is forced to pass into and out of said slot by movements tangential to said keeper, for the purpose set forth.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 31st day of July, 1911.

JOHN MAGHATE. Witnesses:

Jnssn I, RICE, SAMUEL L. RoTHsoHILn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. v 

